COPPERWhat is the national dish of Iceland?
Iceland has no official national dish, and two answers come up most often. Kjötsúpa is a lamb soup: bone-in lamb simmered in plain water with rutabaga, potatoes and carrots, seasoned with salt, pepper and dried soup herbs. Hákarl is Greenland shark cured by fermentation and dried for months, served at the midwinter festival Þorrablót. Lamb soup is the everyday one.
Does Iceland have a national dish?
Not officially. No Icelandic law or institution has named one. Lists of national dishes give Iceland two: lamb and hákarl.
Lamb, in practice, means kjötsúpa, Iceland's lamb soup. The Iceland Food Centre puts it this way: the meat soup is a classic and could top the national dish competition if there ever was one. Hákarl, fermented shark, is the one Wikipedia describes as a national dish of Iceland. The famous Icelandic hot dog is a third, more informal answer.
What is in Icelandic lamb soup?
Kjötsúpa literally means meat soup, but lamb is the only meat used. For centuries lamb was by far the most common meat in Iceland, to the point that meat and lamb meant the same thing. Icelandic sheep are of Scandinavian stock, recognisable by their short legs and the lack of wool on their legs and face. The soup holds:
- Bone-in lamb, usually shoulder, cut into large pieces.
- Rutabaga (swede), the vegetable that makes the soup Icelandic rather than a generic lamb broth.
- Potatoes, carrots and onion, all in big chunks.
- Dried soup herbs, a mix of dried parsnip, carrot and leek cut small.
- Salt and black pepper, and nothing else: no stock cube, no garlic, no thyme.
How kjötsúpa is made
About 1 kg of bone-in lamb shoulder goes into 2 litres of cold water without being browned, so the broth stays clear. It is brought slowly to the boil and the grey foam is skimmed off for several minutes, then salted with 2 teaspoons of salt and simmered covered for 40 minutes before 2 tablespoons of soup herbs go in.
Then come 400 g of rutabaga in large cubes, 4 potatoes, 3 carrots and an onion, all in big chunks, for 20 to 25 minutes until tender, and a teaspoon of black pepper at the end. Meat, vegetables and broth are served together in deep bowls with rye bread and butter. The restraint is the point: stock or modern seasonings turn it into an ordinary meat soup. The full method is in our Icelandic lamb soup recipe.
It is an autumn and winter dish, cooked when the days get shorter, and it used to be a fairly fancy meal eaten on Sundays. It is a close relative of the meat-and-root-vegetable dishes of the Nordic countries, such as Norwegian fårikål and Swedish kalops; see our article on the national dish of Norway.
Hákarl: the other national dish
Hákarl is Greenland shark, or another sleeper shark, cured by a particular fermentation. The gutted shark is traditionally buried in a shallow hole of gravelly sand for six to twelve weeks, depending on the season, then cut into strips and hung to dry for several months.
It is most often eaten as part of Þorramatur, a selection of traditional Icelandic foods served at the midwinter festival Þorrablót. Its taste is notorious: Anthony Bourdain called it the single worst, most disgusting and terrible tasting thing he had ever eaten, and Gordon Ramsay threw up after tasting it. It is a festival food, which is why lamb soup is the better answer for what Icelanders eat through the year.
Other dishes to know from Iceland
Plokkfiskur is poached haddock and potatoes folded into a béchamel and eaten on buttered dark rye bread. It was made to use up yesterday's fish, traditionally on Mondays, in a country where fish was on the table three to four times a week. The haddock is poached 6 to 8 minutes and broken into chunks, the boiled potatoes are cubed rather than mashed, and both are stirred into the sauce only enough to heat through, so the dish stays chunky. The most basic version is nothing more than potato, sautéed onion, haddock, béchamel and pepper.
Pylsur, the Icelandic hot dog, is made from lamb, beef and pork, and the lamb is what sets it apart. The sausages are poached, never grilled. The order of assembly matters: crispy fried onions go into the bun first, then the sausage. Ordered eina með öllu, one with everything, it comes with remoulade, sweet brown mustard called pylsusinnep, ketchup, and both fried and raw onion. Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur in Reykjavík, the country's first hot dog stand, opened in 1937; when Bill Clinton stopped there in 2004 he took his with mustard only, an order still known as The Clinton.
All three recipes are on our page about the food of Iceland.
The recipes
- Lamb soup🇮🇸 Iceland · 1 hour and 35 minutes
Plokkfiskur🇮🇸 Iceland · 40 minutes
Pylsur🇮🇸 Iceland · 10 minutes
Questions people ask
Is hákarl the national dish of Iceland?
Hákarl is often called a national dish of Iceland, but it is mainly eaten at the midwinter festival Þorrablót. Lamb soup, kjötsúpa, is the more everyday answer.
What does kjötsúpa mean?
Kjötsúpa means meat soup. It is made only with lamb, because for centuries lamb was the meat Icelanders ate most.
What is served with Icelandic lamb soup?
Rye bread and butter. The meat, vegetables and broth are served together in deep bowls.
Is the hot dog Iceland's national dish?
Not officially, but many people consider the lamb-blend Icelandic hot dog a hallmark of the country's food. Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur in Reykjavík has sold them since 1937.
What is Þorramatur?
Þorramatur is a selection of traditional Icelandic foods, including hákarl, served at the midwinter festival Þorrablót.
Keep reading
- Traditional food of Iceland: 12 dishes to know
- What is the national dish of Denmark?
- What is the national dish of Finland?
- What is the national dish of Greenland?
- What is the national dish of Norway?
- What is the national dish of Sweden?